Keeper of the Lost Cities- Deathgrip

Blink, blink, cough

It had been a day since Livvy had put Keefe on human medicine. Nothing much had happened, but when Sophie had spoken to Keefe, he had admitted that the darkness was receding, just a little. But as selfish as it was, a part of Sophie hoped that he didn't wake up. If he woke up, he would discover her secret, and it would ruin everything. Every time that thought ran through her though, she shook it away. Keefe was her friend. One of her best friends. He had always been there and there was no chance that she wasn't trying her hardest to wake him up. Right? Except there was. She still hadn't told Elwin or Livvy about her encounter with Lady Gisela, or the threat she made. She wanted to tell Keefe, and she didn't know why she was holding back. She told him everything. Almost. The little voice in head sneered. No. She had no feelings for Keefe. She was just missing him and her heart was confusing that with something else. That. Was. All. "Sophie!" Livvy cried, jolting Sophie out of her confusing thoughts. "Sophie, his vitals are changing! He's showing more signs of life!" 

Livvy rushed into Elwin's office and brought him out. The hovered over Keefe with vials of medicine, colourful orbs and all sorts of other medical tools that Sophie didn't know the name of. She leaned forward in her seat, desperately trying to see his face. It had more colour in it! Elwin leaned back from Keefe and put an arm on Livvy's shoulder. "I think that's about all we can do. He'll either wake up or he'll stay in his coma from here. I'd say his chances of waking are way higher now tha-" But Elwin didn't get to finish his sentence. 

*Blink* A fleeting glimpse of Keefe's shining eyes. *Blink* His icy blue beautiful eyes. And then Keefe started hacking. Blood started pooling in his mouth and he spit it out onto the sheet. Elwin rushed forward again with more medicine. He shoved it into Keefe's mouth after he had finished coughing. Sophie stood up, happy tears wetting her eyes. "Keefe!" 

Ro came rushing into the room from her post outside. "Lord Hunkyhair! I thought you'd never stop lazing in that bed!" 

Keefe ignored Ro and turned to make eye contact with Sophie. "Foster?" A playful grin shone on his pale face. "You're wearing imps!"

Sophie looked down at the shirt that Elwin gave her that was, yes, covered in tiny colourful imps. She pushed past  Livvy and threw her arms around Keefe. "Of course that's the first thing you'd say," She mumbled into his shoulder. She blinked back more tears and felt him put his arms around her. 

"Don't cry on my account, Foster. I got myself into this." then, quieter he whispered, "Sorry." Over and over again, until Livvy pulled Sophie back. 

"Okay, lovebirds, but I have to check his vitals again." 

"Yeah, you two can smooch later!" Ro called from across the room. "It's about time!"

"For what?" Sophie asked, genuinely confused. 

Ro rolled her eyes, picking at a neon orange fingernail. "Blondie, your oblivious act used to be cute. It's getting old now." 

Sophie flushed and turned away, choosing not to dissect that statement too much. Instead, she turned to Elwin. "How much longer does he have to stay here?" 

"Sophie, he has to stay here another day, just so we can monitor how he's doing and help him get his strength back. But you are going home right now."

"Yeah, Foster, I know I have a beautiful face, but three weeks of staring at it?! Even you would get bored staring at it for that long."

"Even me?" Sophie asked, hating how her voice squeaked. What was he implying? Did he know?!

Keefe smirked, clearly getting the reaction he wanted. Ugh. He was playing her. "Mmm." 

"Um, okay, I'll leave, I... I'll take a shower and come back. I made some custard bursts, though do you want some, I can bring them, if you feel up to eating, I mean, if you don't think you have enough energy for that, you can always... store them... elves don't have fridges, right?" Sophie stopped her rambling noticing how even Livvy and Elwin had paused their checkup to stare at her. "Um, yeah I'll leave."

Keefe chuckled and she turned around before he could see her blush. She was going to have to do a heck of a better job of hiding her emotions if she was ever going to keep this secret.